On Sunday night last weekend, I stumbled upon an interesting web, Harry Potter Wiki. Then I spent couple hours reading pages by pages, feeding my curiosity with spoilers (I haven’t read the sixth and seventh book of HP) until I feel the hang of the series without reading the last two books. Now, what is your favorite character in HP magical world? Is it one of the trio, a professor in Hogwarts, a member of The Order of Phoenix or Dumbledore’s Army, or perhaps the “You-Know-Who” himself? Well, it is up to you to choose, but here I would like to share a bit thought of mine about them. Note that in my opinion, J.K. Rowling has created a magnificent saga with a set of strong characters, most of them might be able to have a book written for. So, here we go(warning: spoiler alert):
1. Albus Dumbledore: The best wizard in HP world, maybe only second to Lord Voldemort. He plays a role of mentor and grandfather to the trio, often be seen in the last part of each book explaining details and uncovering mysteries to Harry and the readers. Though his death in the Half-Blood Prince shocked the world in 1997, I found that it is indeed necessary for the saga to be an epic. It brings uncertainty to the magical world, for there will be practically no one that stands a chance to duel Lord Voldemort on even ground. It also passes the baton of resistance leadership to our Harry, now wandering with the trio, uncovering mysteries and sparking the war by their own hands. Being one of the most important characters, even death cannot erase his presence and significance–it even amplifies–to the adventurous HP.
2. Minerva McGonagall: Transfiguration professor and head of Gryffindor house. But beyond that, I recognize her as an Animagus with the cutest animal form. Strict and straight, she is proven to be one of the best witches in HP world, able to duel with Lord Voldemort along with Shacklebolt and Slughorn.
3. Harry Potter: The boy who lived. The absolute first chapter that roared in England and echoed throughout the world, up to today. Rebellous and gifted like his father, yet kindhearted like his mother, our hero paves his road for the sole purpose of defeating Lord Voldemort, for the second time. Interesting to see how well Rowling planned the growth or our character from book to book. While Harry only needs practically his friends’ assistance coupled with his flying skill and just bare hands to defeat Voldemort in the first book, he starts to fight his way out in the Mysteries Department at the fifth year, then fully able to wander around while being fugitive of Death Eaters for the final. If we must attribute a word to Harry, I might say ‘bravery’.
4. Ron Weasley: A great sidekick, I must say. A bit clumsy and moody, yet can be so manly and protective. Being raised in a big happy family, he becomes a great brother to our Harry, which has no family at all to begin with. Together with Hermione, they get the center role in the saga.
5. Hermione Granger: The genius beauty. She loves reading, studying, and of course, answering questions in classes. Among all the chosen actors and actresses of HP movies, I think Hermione got the best possible. Even JK Rowling was said to recognize Hermione in Emma Watson when she saw her for the first time.
6. Neville Longbottom: OK, here we go. Instead of Harry or Draco (who both have their own fan sites), I declare Neville as my favorite character in HP saga. Why, you said? Because he is unique! His character development from Philosopher’s Stone to Deathly Hallows is the best among all. I believe that we can even make a separate books for Neville alone! Now let’s check. He started as the “bottom” of all his year class. Clumsy, could not do magic properly, easily lost things or being picked on, but showed great potentials when he confronted the trio from breaking the school law–which in the end, granted the table-turned winning for Gryffindor House. Then, slowly, he became more capable in magic, accelerated by the first Azkaban’s mass jailbreak. And in the end, Neville is the one who was recognized by the Sorting Hat as the truest Gryffindor, got the Sword, killed Nagini, and by doing so practically ripped away the immortality of the You-Know-Who. Cool, isn’t he?
7. Severus Snape: My second fave in HP world (also the last on this list). The biggest reason for my adoration to the character lies on the last book, in which Rowling finally reveals the deepest secret of Snape’s allegiance. Not to Voldemort, nor Dumbledore, nor Harry, or the Magic World as a whole. But to LOVE.. Yeah, the cold-blooded two-faced professor, in the end, is just a mere lover. Right now, one of the moments I anticipated most from the last movie of HP franchise is the final moment of Snape. “After all this time, Severus?” “Always”
Aaand. There! I started this post early December and just finished it now. What a bad blogger I am. At first, I wanna explore more characters. But the topic is getting dull, and I’ve written much already. So, please bear with the seven characters above. Enjoy ^_^
